A traditional bird house is made of wood or like rigid material, and is relatively bulky and heavy. These characteristics of the traditional bird house have certain disadvantages.
It is believed that the rigidity, bulk and weight of a traditional bird house of wood or like material creates disadvantageous economies in respect of storage, transport and use. Where the product is rigid and bulky, a merchant, for example, might need to reserve additional shelf or store space for displaying the wares, and additional space to hold stock for sale. Where the traditional product has a fixed-size opening and the merchant must both display and stock a number of models in order to accommodate different varieties of birds, the storage space problem is exacerbated. Even when a wood product can be disassembled to some extent for storage, the bulk of the wood is a limiting factor in how small the package can be made. It would be a desirable improvement to provide a collapsible bird house which can be packed flat for storage and handling.
Where the traditional bird house is not only rigid and bulky, but is also heavy, a manufacturer of such products, for example, might need to account for shipping and transportation costs as an added cost of the goods being sold, and such costs must be absorbed by the consumer, the merchant, the distributor or the manufacturer. Moreover, the bird fancier who purchases the product should also be concerned about transportability, not only from the store to home or other location of use, but from place to place as the user may have a temporary or permanent relocation of the site where the bird house will be used. It would be a desirable improvement to provide a bird house which is not only collapsible by the merchant or user for storage or transport, but which is also relatively light in weight so that the product is easily and economically shipped, transported from store to home (or other location of use) and conveniently portable and movable from place to place.
A traditional bird house made of wood and used in the outdoors is subject to weathering and to deterioration, perhaps requiring special finishes or periodic refinishing. Plastics or other long-lived materials may have the disadvantage of providing a surface which is not ideal for birds, especially fledglings who require some "tooth" in the material to enable their claws to take hold as they seek to exit the bird house. It would be a desirable improvement to construct a bird house of a material which would have long life, and yet which would also have a surface which a bird might be able to grasp with its claws.
Birds deposit waste. The traditional bird house of wood or like material is not always easy to clean. It would be a desirable improvement to provide a bird house which is easily cleaned, inside and out.
Birds might prefer shelter from the sun or rain. The traditional bird house of wood or like material might have a more or less bulky roof, roof overhang, or "awning" of some sort to provide shade or to repel rain, but such added structures contribute to the overall problems of rigidity, bulk and weight already mentioned. It would be a desirable improvement to provide a detachable, collapsible water repellent rainfly/sunshade which can also be packed flat and which is light weight.
The bird house of the present invention is designed to address these and other disadvantages of the traditional bird house made of wood or like material. The bird house system of this invention affords a collapsible, light weight, portable solution. The material is a sturdy fabric which is supported by removable rods and, when the rods are removed, it can be collapsed and packed flat. The entire system is light weight for easy transport. The bird house system of this invention provides a suitable and long-lasting material of durable fabric which has a cloth surface on the inside which is suitable for fledglings.
Fiberglass rods impart rigidity to the bird house and two of the internal rods and the eave rod can be easily removed to pack the bird house flat and tight (that is, in a package not only flat but relatively small, approximately twelve inches by fifteen inches). The bird house system of this invention is water and stain resistant, and has a zipper bottom for cleaning. The bird house system of this invention includes a detachable water repellent rainfly/sunshade which is made of sturdy fabric, supported by perimeter rods, is lightweight and capable of being removed from the bird house and packed flat.
These and other advantages of the collapsible bird house system of this invention will be explained in the discussion which follows.